Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $819,000 Position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 17,544 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,502,640 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $70,113,000 after acquiring an additional 33,124 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 530,827 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $24,768,000 after acquiring an additional 74,920 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 398,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,972,000 after acquiring an additional 38,655 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 262,799 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 212,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,931,000 after acquiring an additional 36,290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on KLIC shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC opened at $35.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 298.00 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.84 and a 1 year high of $53.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.16.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently 683.33%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.